Sunday evening I was able to attend the 49th annual Service of Lessons and Carols held at All Saints' Chapel. I have been told since before we even moved here that this was the be-all/end-all event of the Advent season.I'm going to go ahead and give this a thumbs down.
Now, Monkey-Girl and a good friend of ours read as part of the service and my appraisal has NOTHING to do with their contribution. The music selection was beautiful. The readings were spot on. The chapel was gorgeous. The greenery was festive. I especially loved the program cover art, but I'm a sucker for art deco.
The "mega-event" nature of this thing is what turned me off. I was told that Lessons and Carols started off as a community event. It featured nearly all of the choirs on the Domain including the Otey Parrish Children's Choir. It was attended by people in the community as a lead-in to Christmas.
Now it's an overcrowded, over-hyped presentation for the donors. As Monkey-Girl was a participant in the program, I got a "reserved" seat. This meant that I didn't have to stand in line for two hours before the doors opened. The "reserved" section boasted row upon row of flimsy folding chairs spaced an un-exaggerated ten inches apart.
I seemed to be surrounded by University alumni and there underwhelmed teen-aged children. This was not the fault of the All Saints', mind you, but it did contribute to the atmosphere of let down.
Finally, the University Choir has to be called to task. I've been hearing since we first came to interview here over three years ago how wonderfully amazing this choir is. Let me tell you: the emperor is naked. I have been able to listen to the choir fairly regularly for almost a year as I attend Sunday services at All Saints'. My ear is untrained, but even I can tell that the soprano section is consistently sharp.
I know that this is incredibly biased, but I'll take Lessons and Carols followed by Midnight Mass at Saint Michael's of Racine over last night's event any time.
5 comments:
I guess it takes all kinds, to make the world go round. I know this was your last chance for lessons and carols but next time consider the 8:00, not as crowded, no tickets, not too many underwhelmed teens. I had goosebumps the whole time. Vive la differance!
I'm so sad you had a yucky experience, ours at the Sunday 8pm service was completely different.
Perhaps you're right. I probably would have enjoyed the 8:00 pm service.
Call me Charlie Brown, but it just seemed too commercial.
I am so glad you said this! I felt like a crazy person for thinking the EXACT same thing. I went our first year here, waited in the line for two hours and then sat for another two to wonder what the heck that was all about. This year, I too was honored to have a ticket to the event so did not have to stand in the line. I just think the whole thing is ho-hum. For all the hoop-la, I expect so much more from the whole thing. The choir is beautiful BUT it did not provide me with any chills or teary moments and I actually found myself hoping for the end of many of the tunes so we could go eat supper.
I totally agree with those underwhelmed by the whole experience. As a reader, I was looking forward to being a part of this service that I had heard some much about. I get there and "eh" is all I can say. Its nice, its pretty, its shorter than I thought it would be, which was good. But I respect the hard work that the All Saints staff and choir put in to put this on.
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